First gen Civic (1975) 1.5l 4spd CVCC

[M_a_t_t]

That yellow civic was missing them. I left a comment saying I scanned them if he wanted to try to replicate them since they are missing on that car.

Also mine is the trunk version, not the hatchback. Which I thought makes it a little bit more unique than most others.

[arcosine]

Check the speakers and the fuse. I had the same car, back in the day. I bought from a guy who didn't tell me that the head had a hole in it. It took a lot of water to fill up the radiator, as it filled the whole crankcase. It looked like a nut had gotten jammed under the cam lobe. I took the head off and had it welded up. Simple car to work on. I put new rings and bearings in it and had the head milled. I mixed up the positions of the pistons, Honda has them matched and uses different thickness bearing shells to get the correct oil clearances. The are punched with letters indicating the tolerance. The car had a rod knock after I finished. I put thick oil it,which silenced the knock. I kept it for a year and drove it to Illinois from California. My brother sold it to a friend of his, who changed the oil. Shortly after the the car threw a rod. The car has such a short wheel base and stiff suspension, I remember getting air through intersections. The carburetor is tricky to get the float right.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by M_a_t_t

... mine is the trunk version, not the hatchback....

Have you posted pics of your CVCC?

[M_a_t_t]

The one in the first post and post #41 are mine before I bought it. Here are some pictures I took today. I've got it on stands because I bought new tires and am slowly cleaning the wheels for repainting. There is evidence of a mouse (or multiple) inside so wiring might be an issue. When I hooked the battery up to it not much seemed to work. Wipers did, luckily they didn't scratch the crap out of the windshield. It's been fitted with an aftermarket ignition to replace the points as well. Also the engine is stuck. I'd assume it's not too bad because the oil didn't show any shavings and other than being dark it seems fine. In the picture looking at the engine from the driver side is the part that looks like a vacuum solenoid is the system that has the WAI. The red hose is supposed to run to the exhaust and the open side goes to the fender well. The last 2 pictures are the worst rust, except in the front fender wells, on the car.

Now lets play a version of where's Waldo: This car has been sitting since 1988. Can anyone find the evidence (besides overall condition)?

[California98Civic]

"Jul 1988"

[M_a_t_t]

Very neat video. The orange looks really sharp. I noticed the wiper arms point the opposite direction on his car (RHD). It makes sense, but I would have never thought about it.

I ordered a bunch of parts, for some reason I forgot to add front wheel bearings to the cart though. I have been working on my 95 astro lately, it's almost done though which means I will be getting back to the civic!

This might be a long shot, but I can't figure out how to fold the rear seat in my car. It seems loose on the corners where the latches are, but I can't get it and I don't want to just yank on it. Does anyone happen to know how to fold it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0JTyxSuEZU

[California98Civic]

I have bumped into that video, too. YouTube assumes I am interested in First Gen Civics now. Haha. I just watched it through and makpde stills... no hints of a latch. I'm out of time this morning before work, but I also googled and failed to find hints about that rear seat latch that way. If/when you figure it out, post a set of pics or a short video. Nobody online appears to know, lol.

QUICK EDIT: In this still you can see what look like round brackets for pins as a kind of hinge for the seat to fold.


QUICK EDIT TO QUICK EDIT:
So, the accord idea was bad. Deleted. This is better, from a parts site. #9 is the "locking rod" and number 14 and 15 are locking plates on the left and right below the top of the backrest on the sides, it seems:

[M_a_t_t]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

I have bumped into that video, too. YouTube assumes I am interested in First Gen Civics now. Haha. I just watched it through and makpde stills... no hints of a latch. I'm out of time this morning before work, but I also googled and failed to find hints about that rear seat latch that way. If/when you figure it out, post a set of pics or a short video. Nobody online appears to know, lol.

QUICK EDIT: In this still you can see what look like round brackets for pins as a kind of hinge for the seat to fold.

QUICK EDIT TO QUICK EDIT:
So, the accord idea was bad. Deleted. This is better, from a parts site. #9 is the "locking rod" and number 14 and 15 are locking plates on the left and right below the top of the backrest on the sides, it seems:

Looking at the part diagrams is a really good point. I don't think that is the correct one for my car though. If it was that means I still couldn't access the trunk from inside the car (I don't have the trunk key).

CMSNL lists this for the trunk model:


And this for the Hatchback:


The owners manual doesn't mention the trunk, only the hatch. Which matches the parts diagram with the handle on the back of the seat.


I was typing a response and at this point I decided to look at the rear seat some more because of the details shown in the diagram. Specifically the hooks on the bottom of the seat.

I looked and the driver side of the seat was already pulled up. The passenger side wasn't, but I was able to pull it up. There was still something holding the bottom half in, some looking at the back and voila! There was a bolt, just like the diagram showed for the seat back. 10mm socket and the lower part was out. Then I removed the 2 bolts that are shown to hold the seat back in place. And I couldn't figure it out. Something was still holding the top half in. Some wiggling and I felt it move when pushed up on. Pushed up some more and it turns out there are hooks on the back. After getting the seat out I can see learning how to reupholster seats is in my future. I gave the latch a little pull and it wasn't moving. Worst case I unscrew the latch from the door while I clean the car out.

Check out the brake lines in the bottom of the picture. Still very clean even after sitting for so long.




Interesting fact is that even though the wagon is the 4 door version the 2 (and 3) door is called the sedan.

[California98Civic]

Nice pictures. Good progress. Nothing broke! Brake lines do look good. Original hardware that can serve the restored car. I always love that approach. I have never regretted saving a part and putting it back into service (when it can really still serve safely and reliably). I have regretted not rebuilding some parts that I thought I couldn't spend the extra money/time needed.

[M_a_t_t]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Nice pictures. Good progress. Nothing broke! Brake lines do look good. Original hardware that can serve the restored car. I always love that approach. I have never regretted saving a part and putting it back into service (when it can really still serve safely and reliably). I have regretted not rebuilding some parts that I thought I couldn't spend the extra money/time needed.

I had assumed they ran underneath the car, and therefore probably rusty and likely to leak. I will try to inspect the full length of the lines. I will probably replace the whole line if I find bad sections. I did already cut the lines off the master cylinder so the short section from the master to the distribution block will be replaced.

Another small and possibly inaccurate detail I noticed is that the trip meter is at 457 miles. The car has a 10 gal tank, so if they used the odo like most do then that's at least 45 MPG if they ran the whole tank out of gas. That mileage seems very plausible.

I have been working on a video about the master cylinder. Hopefully it will be ready and posted by Monday. Would love to hear opinions about it (video and thumbnail).

Here's my thumbnail (if you don't zoom in my highlighting looks pretty good):